Cult Craze

THE MAIL

NO WRITER ATTRIBUTED
May 15, 1978

To the Editors of The Crimson:

I read with eagerness Kenneth Walton's defense of the claims by TM that 4000 of its meditators are levitating and turning themselves invisible. TM's leaders have been making these claims for nearly a year now, but they still do not allow outsiders to witness these marvelous goings-on. At last, I hoped, here was someone--a Harvard Med School instructor no less--who could provide firsthand reports.

But no. Strip away his rationalizations and intellectual fog, and all Walton is saying is that because TM is a good experience for him, he will believe whatever TM's leaders tell him.

Shucks. I'd like to fly and turn invisible myself. I'm sure it would be a gas. But I'll believe it only when I see it--and so should Walton. There are already too many intelligent people around getting drawn into one cultish sect or another to the point of believing--and vigorously defending--whatever craziness the group leaders tell them, whether it be comical craziness as in the case of TM, or frightening and dangerous craziness as in the case of certain religious cults recruiting locally. History suggests that this syndrome does not lead to happy results. --Alan M. MacRobert